row2k spoke with the M8's Zach Vlahos & Will Miller, and the LM4's Robin Prendes, Will Newell, & Nick LaCava, just after each crew won its A Final at the Final Qualifier to earn the USA a place at the 2012 London Olympics in these events.
Zach Vlahos, Coxswain, Men's Eight
row2k: How did the first half of that race go for you?
Zach Vlahos: The first half of the race was good. We had a clean start and found a good rhythm. we got a pretty early lead, which helped because those other crews didn't go away.
row2k: Coming into the second half, did you have to respond to anything, or just maintain?
ZV: We were trying to keep pushing away, and New Zealand put up a fight, and we were fortunate to finish first (laughs).
row2k: It definitely seemed like a relief to the guys; a lot of the crews that qualified in events before yours were going crazy, but you guys were a little more low key; do you feel like you have a bigger goal in mind?
ZV: Yes, this was phase one, the main goal. No one was looking past today; the boat was named and all the focus was on today, just to win this one race. Obviously there was a lot of pressure to win today, and we're happy to get it done and ready to go back home to California and keep training tomorrow.
Will Miller, Men's Eight
row2k: How was the race today?
Will Miller: It was a solid effort all around, we got off well and got a little bit of a lead, and New Zealand just kept fighting all the way to the end. It was good to fight them, and [we] hope to keep on rolling.
row2k: How has the last month been?
Will Miller: We've been training real hard and trying to get faster, and just trying to focus on one step at a time. First it was selection, then the qualification round, now it will be the Olympics.
row2k: Bit of a relief now?
Will Miller: Yes and no; we got done what we needed to get done, and now we're looking forward to the big show.
Robin Prendes, Will Newell, Nick LaCava, Light Men's Four
row2k: So that was a close one. What was it like, can you walk us through the race?
Robin Prendes: We knew we had a strong base, so our whole plan was not to get dropped in the start. Since we're a new crew and we're definitely lacking racing experience, as long as we were with the pack at the start, we knew our base would come through. Coming into the 1250-1500, we were ahead, and it was just maintaining it and then racing it in.
row2k: That was quite a scream you had at the finish.
RP: Oh, you heard that?
row2k: Uh, I think they heard it at the start line, maybe back in the US.
RP: I'm a little excited.
Will Newell: Robin's a very emotional guy.
row2k: What was going through your head when you crossed the line, did you know you had won?
Will Newell: Honestly, my first thought when I crossed the line was: I really hope the boat's not underweight [ed. note: the crew's own boat had blown off the racks earlier this week, and they were in a boat borrowed from the Australian women].
We weighed it before, but you get to the finish and think, alright, you've done the work, please don't let anything else…
row2k: What has it been like the last couple months?
Robin Prendes: It has been tough. We had a lot of good guys in the training camp and we had a lot of seat racing, a couple months of seat racing.
Nick LaCava: We had a couple good months of training, but I think the biggest thing was that we had a lot of really good guys in the camp together, and Volp [US coach Bryan Volpenhein] did a really good job this year, so having a really good group and a good coach like that really makes a big difference.
row2k: So what is next?
Robin Prendes: Heading back, getting a couple months of training in, and seeing what we can do.
row2k: The Dutch got fourth at the Belgrade World Cup; does beating them set you up well for the Olympics?
Nick LaCava: Lightweight rowing is always so close, and every second makes a big difference, so hopefully we can make up one or two seconds in the next couple months.
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